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Casalbore Named Business Partner at Barron’s Wholesale Tire

(Akron/Tire Review) Carl Casalbore has joined Barron’s Wholesale Tire Inc. as a business partner and will serve as vice president of sales and marketing. Casalbore had been director of passenger and light truck replacement dealer sales for Continental Tire North America (CTNA) and was responsible for developing and managing the independent tire dealer sales channel. Before joining CTNA, he had been vice president of marketing and high performance tire development at Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. Casalbore had also worked at Pirelli Tire North America Inc. as vice president of sales.

26th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Steel Giant Seeks Controlling Stake in Cooper JV Company

Information supplied by a spokesman for leading global steel manufacturer Arcelor Mittal indicates that the company plans to pay US$27 million for a controlling stake in China’s Chengshan Steel Cord Co. This stake, according to a China Business News report of June 20, could be higher than 90 per cent, however its exact size has not been specified, and Chinese government approval must first be granted before any transaction can take place.

The firm at the centre of the takeover plans is located in Rongcheng, Shangdong Province, and is a 75-25 per cent venture between Shandong Chengshan Group Co and the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. The company produces steel cord and bead wire for use in tyre reinforcement, and has an annual output capacity of more than 60,000 tons. Chengshan Steel Cord achieved sales of 375 million yuan (£24.6 million) in 2006, up 51.5 per cent from a year earlier.

Cooper Tire has not commented on this proposed deal, but if it takes place they may be required to pull out of the venture they helped establish.

25th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

May Shipments Meet Expectations

RMA data indicates that replacement tyre shipments to dealers in May were up 1.1 per cent year-on-year (they were down 3.6 per cent in May 2006). According to Deutsche Bank analysts product mix was better in the month, as light truck tyre shipments were up 4 per cent, while passenger tyres were up 0.6 per cent.

As a result the financial analysts supported their earlier assertions that 2007 replacement tyre demand could track “well ahead of 2 per cent,” adding: “We continue to believe our 2007 Goodyear (Buy) and Cooper Tire (Hold) North American volume assumptions are conservative. Cooper is best positioned in our view to beat volume expectations, given over 40 million units of reduced capacity in the low-end tyre market.”

19th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Two New China Execs for Cooper Tire

Cooper Tire has named two new executives for its operations in China. Andrew Weiwen Chen has been appointed the new deputy general manager for Cooper Chengshan Tire Company, as well as director of finance for Cooper China. Mr. Chen’s primary association will be with Cooper Chengshan, although he will also have some financial responsibilities for Cooper’s China operations.

Reporting to Chuck Taylor, Cooper Chengshan’s general manager, and Jerry Long, chief financial officer for Cooper Asia, Mr. Chen will manage business planning and analysis, accounting and reporting, budget preparation, and treasury requirements.

13th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon OE on Car that Recreates Racing’s Golden Age

Avon tyres has secured its third OE contract with a British sportscar manufacturer within the space of six months. Avon parent company Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd has announced the signing of an agreement with Peterborough based manufacturer Vanwall – a postwar racing marque given a new lease of life in the 21st century. This latest deal comes on top of recent contracts with Connaught and Morgan.

Avon’s Turbo Steel 70 has been confirmed as the official tyre for Vanwall’s V12-powered Grand Prix Racer. Starting at £50,000 per car, and built to each customer’s individual specification, the Vanwall GPR V12 is a road legal, two-seater racing car styled on the classic 1950s Formula One cars bearing the same name, made famous at the hands of motor racing legend, Sir Stirling Moss.

25th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Small Fire at Cooper Melksham

Cooper’s Melksham, Wiltshire factory has been the scene of a small fire in the early hours of Wednesday 23rd May. According to local news reports, overheated electrics on a forklift truck caused the fire. Firefighters at Cooper Tires were alerted after alarms went off at about 3:45am on the first floor of building 151. They reportedly discovered a small fire which was put out using a CO2 extinguisher. Firefighters carried out an inspection of the building to make sure it was safe.

24th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Texarkana Cuts Continue; 150 More on Lay Off

(Akron/Tire Review) Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is continuing with its plans to convert its Texarkana, Arkansas, tyre plant to a so-called “flex plant,” and will lay off some 150 workers there this weekend. The layoffs are part of the 400 to 500 workers Cooper planned to put on furlough at the plant. According to local media reports, some of the newly laid off workers may be called back sooner as Cooper sales have increased. In addition, the reports said, the number of workers furloughed is fewer than previously estimated.

24th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Mini Goes Large at Oulton Park

This bank holiday the British Dunlop Motorsport Festival of 2007 hits Oulton Park in Cheshire on the forthcoming Bank Holiday Monday. After the season’s opening gathering at Snetterton in Norfolk, organizers are expecting another strong crowd to gorge themselves on a feast of Sports car racing, Production Saloon car racing, Mini racing, in fact a wall to wall racing spectacular from nine o’clock in the morning right through until six in the evening.

The action isn’t confined to the track either; also on the bill is the return of the popular Dunlop Great & British Mini Festival. Last year hundreds of Mini owners and their passengers took part in special parade laps around many of the country’s top racetracks and at Oulton Park they’ll be able to do the same again.

On the race front Scotland’s Oli Mortimer will be looking to continue his domination of the Mini Challenge championship. The promising youngster won all three races in his Cooper S at the recent Snetterton meeting and is out for more of the same at Oulton.

21st May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Free 30-Day Trial on Cooper 4×4 Tyres

Cooper Tire is so confident in the performance of its acclaimed 4×4 range of tyres that it is now offering an innovative new money-back guarantee. Buy any four new Cooper 4×4 tyres from its extensive range of both on and off road 4×4 tyres from an authorised Cooper Tire dealer in the UK, and if the customer is not completely happy with them, they can return them to their dealer within 30 days for a full refund.

Commenting on the new initiative Tom Edwards Cooper Tire’s UK marketing manager said: ”We understand that for any customer buying 4×4 tyres is a big expense and they want to get it right, so we are offering them the chance to try our tyres without the usual risk associated with getting stuck with something you are not completely happy with. As one of the world’s largest 4×4 tyre manufacturers, we are more than confident in our tyres’ performance and we are prepared to put our money where our mouth is.”

16th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Lone Wolf Keeps on Running

The Lone Wolf Transglobal Expedition has successfully crossed the border into Pakistan, marking the completion of four months on the road during which the team’s Land Rover Wolf Defender, shod on Cooper tyres, has traversed a multitude of demanding terrain. The versatile Cooper Discoverer STT (Super Traction Tread) has carried the Lone Wolf team over thousands of miles of unpaved mud roads, snow covered mountain paths and desert dunes, as well as proving remarkably comfortable on western motorways.

Having left the UK on 2 January, the Lone Wolf Transglobal Expedition aims to circumnavigate the globe in just 12 months. With the help of Cooper Tire, the eighth largest tyre maker in the world, the expedition will travel through 40 countries in a vehicle originally designed and built to the specifications of the famous explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

11th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Turns-Out $21 million Net Income in First Quarter

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported net income of $21 million or 33 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. The dramatically improved earnings were achieved as total sales increased by 16 per cent to a new first quarter record of $689 million. This compares to a net loss of $5 million generated on sales of $597 million in the first quarter of 2006.

During the quarter the company continued to benefit from the cost reduction and profit improvement initiatives it announced in September 2006 as well as improved price and mix in North America, and increased tyre unit sales in Europe and Asia. As a result, operating profit improved to $30 million in the first quarter of 2007 compared to an operating loss of $4 million in the first quarter of 2006.

4th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper’s second A1GP season ends at Brands Hatch

The A1 Grand Prix series is returning to its ‘spiritual home’ of Brands Hatch on April 29 for the grand finale to its second season. And with it comes Cooper Tires, the sole supplier of rubber to the A1GP series since it began on the Kent track in September 2005 with a race that drew a crowd of 80,000 spectators, the largest attendance at the ex-Grand Prix venue since its last Formula 1 World Championship race in 1986.

Earlier this year, the championship topped an enormous 250,000km of race distance on Cooper bespoke racing tyres, and the tyremaker will continue to supply the series on an exclusive basis during its third season, which starts later on 2007. The organisers of A1GP believe the series, with national teams fighting for a ‘World Cup of Motorsport’, is a unique concept, and are confident that the action and overtaking present in each race makes a refreshing change from the processional nature of modern Formula One.

24th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Win Off-Roading Tickets With KRT and Cooper

Kings Road Tyres are offering visitors to the Brityrex exhibition the opportunity to win a day’s off-road driving experience at Kankku Off Road Adventures based in Windermere. Kankku run a fleet of modified G4 Defender 90s fitted with Cooper Discoverer STTs and provide expert off-road driving tuition. Simply visit Kings Road Tyres on Stand 7 at the show and drop your business card into the box for the chance to win a day out with a difference.

At the end of 2006 Cooper celebrated its first year of using Cooper’s Discoverer STT rubber on its fleet of 4×4 vehicles by dangling a 4×4 over the Kankku centre in the Lake District.

16th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

US Shipments Down, But Pricing ‘Robust’

Preliminary US tyre shipment data shows that the North American light vehicle replacement market declined 1.3 per cent year-on-year in first quarter of 2007. This figure is seen as an improvement over the -4.5 per cent drop during the same period of last year, but is not enough for analysts to feel comfortable talking about recovery. However, Deutsche Bank analysts have reported that “pricing appears to be trending significantly better than expected.” Referring to Goodyear’s 4-5 per cent price increase effective1 April, the analysts added: “We believe that Cooper is likely to follow suit. Every 1 percentage point change in price translates to approximately $0.25 in earnings per share for both companies.”

13th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyres British GT Series – GT Heaven

Aston Martin DBRS9, Lamborghini Gallardo, Jaguar’s new XKR, Ferrari 430, Porsche GT3RS, Ascari KZ1R and the iconic Dodge Viper are among the mouth-watering line-up of GT machinery that will grace this year’s Avon Tyres British GT Championship. And, of course, these dream machines will be shod with Avon motorsport tyres.

Avon Tyres Motorsport, the racing division of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd, won the contract to supply control tyres to GT Championship series for the 2006 to 2008 race seasons. This year’s season rumbles into action at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on Easter weekend, April 7-9.

3rd April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors